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Sebastián Naranjo

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René Magritte — Les eaux profondes
René Magritte

Les eaux profondes

1941

A quintessential Surrealist painting by René Magritte depicting a figure wearing a dark double-breasted overcoat topped with a classical white marble female bust, standing before a stone wall with a turquoise sea visible to the left. Perched on a weathered wooden stump to the right is a large dark bird — likely a raven or jackdaw — facing the marble head in an uncanny confrontation. The juxtaposition of the animate bird, inanimate sculpture, and clothed human form exemplifies Magritte's signature dislocation of familiar objects. Painted in 1941 during the German occupation of Belgium, the work carries an enigmatic tension characteristic of Magritte's wartime output.

Medium
Oil on canvas

Notes

Title 'Les eaux profondes' translates to 'The Deep Waters'. Work dated 1941.

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About this work

René Magritte, Les eaux profondes, 1941

A quintessential Surrealist painting by René Magritte depicting a figure wearing a dark double-breasted overcoat topped with a classical white marble female bust, standing before a stone wall with a turquoise sea visible to the left. Perched on a weathered wooden stump to the right is a large dark bird — likely a raven or jackdaw — facing the marble head in an uncanny confrontation. The juxtaposition of the animate bird, inanimate sculpture, and clothed human form exemplifies Magritte's signature dislocation of familiar objects. Painted in 1941 during the German occupation of Belgium, the work carries an enigmatic tension characteristic of Magritte's wartime output.

Medium
Oil on canvas
Year
1941

Related themes

Surrealism, Dark, 20th Century, Blue Chip, Unique, Belgian, Painting, Figurative

More works by René Magritte

Collected by

Sebastián Naranjo, Art Institute of Chicago